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Re: Help! How to get underweight fussy baby to eat more?

[sigh....] spoke too soon. He was good for a day or so but has now gotten back to his old self again. Refusing to eat again during the day, except when nursed to sleep for his naps. Not sure what his problem is. He does have a lot of symptoms of silent reflux - looks away when feeding, screams, arches back, cough, hiccups. He's been on Zantac for 6 days now. Other than that 1 day when he would be willing to nurse during the day, I'm not sure if the Zantac is effective anymore.

Re: Help! How to get underweight fussy baby to eat more?

Moms, please help me explain this behaviour. So this afternoon, I was playing with my son and had him on my lap just just my bra on. He turned to my breast and wanted to latch but my bra was on. So I immediately undid the bra so that he could nurse. But was soon as I did that, he started to turn his head, arch his back, scream, etc like usual. So I put my bra back on so it wouldn't upset him further.

25 mins later, we were playing something else and he was on my lap again and he did the same thing, try to latch on my bra. I undid my bra, and he did his usual refusal. So I went to warm up a bottle for him (he doesn't take bottles) and gave it to him. He would bite on the nipple, but wouldn't suck on the bottle. But at least he doesn't scream or arch his back with the bottle.

Then I took him upstairs to my room, pulled down the shades (our normal nap routine), and he dove right to my breast. I gave him the bottle instead and he took it! It was just a little bit of milk to test him so I have him the breast right away and of course he took it.

What do you think is going on? Why won't he take any milk when he's not in my room? Had he strongly associated milk with sleeping, rather than silent reflux that we've been suspecting?

Re: Help! How to get underweight fussy baby to eat more?

Could it be something in the environment like a distraction or strong smell? Are you more relaxed in your bedroom which helps him to be more relaxed? Do you use a different position in bed than in the rest of the house? Does your bedroom have some sort of white noise like a fan or humidifier that he likes? White noise is a great tool for fussy babies, if you aren't using it already.

My baby is a bit younger than yours but with her I have noticed that if I am not relaxed she will act hungry like you describe but then refuse to nurse. Also if she is overly tired she only wants to nurse lying in bed.

Re: Help! How to get underweight fussy baby to eat more?

I've learned to relax when nursing early on so I think it's the same wherever I nurse at home. My room does have a humidifier on but it's really quiet. Position is still cradle hold in my arms wherever I nurse.

Re: Help! How to get underweight fussy baby to eat more?

I prefer nursing him outside of his naps but he outright refuses. I offer every time he wakes up, if I see him licking his tongue, rooting, etc. I will offer but he screams. When he was younger, I try to force him but I've stopped doing that for a long time now. He gradually nursed less and less when awake starting from 3 months, and in the last month, he totally refuses to nurse when awake.

Re: Help! How to get underweight fussy baby to eat more?

Hi I went through something similar with my baby. Including baby refusing bottle. Here's an idea. Is baby getting chance to get outside the house, spend time and interact with other people? Are you getting some time. To yourself? I know that one is hard when baby won't take bottle but seems like he took it that one time so maybe he will again? Lots of moms have posted on this forum through the years about going thru the same thing. A common thread seemed to be moms staying home, being isolated with baby and I think can sometimes lead to nursing difficulties. make sure your baby gets a chance to spend time interacting with other people. When you are reunited he just might realize he missed you and want to reconnect by nursing. Again this might not be the solution for you - I really don't know what your personal situation is- but u might find its worth a try. You might also find it helpful to do a search of only nurse while sleeping and read other moms stories and what ended up working for them.
Personally at 6 months my baby still nurses best in our quiet dark bedroom, but thank goodness she will nurse while awake now. I respect when she's done, even if I feel like it was not long enough, get up and take her to where she wants to be - where the activity is! Babies this age are very curious and want to play and interact with the world whereas younger babies would be content to just nurse constantly. When my lo was going thru this and refusing to nurse it was so stressful and upsetting. Hang in there I hope it gets better soon.